Tasting Time
by Butterfree
Summary: It's hard being the fabulous one of the group, especially when falling in love. Series of one-shots. Cilan/DentoXIris.
1. Masked Sommelier

Dent had to be honest. It was difficult being the quiet, observant, yet fabulous one of the group.

Not that he was complaining. No. In fact, dealing with Ash and Iris had to be about a thousand times more tolerable than what he was used to back home at the Striaton Gym. At least Ash never snuck a Joltik into his bed at night. Or video tapped him singing in the shower for all those girls who never seemed to leave the restaurant to sigh upon.

He didn't mind the latter, but Joltiks weren't friendly if you rolled over them.

Those were always the kinds of stunts Pod pulled whenever there were no challengers and he was bored. In contrast, Corn was the subdued one. He barely talked unless calling out a move in battle or he and his brothers were doing one of their swoon-worthy introductions. He was so easy to be around that it almost creeped him out. And his brother was witty; one of those people who stayed in the background silently waiting for the right moment to make a comment that would embarrass the taste out of you.

So between being muddled by the ladies asking him to serenade them and feeling like he was being watched all afternoons of his life, absolutely; he loved travelling and he loved his travelling companions. Ash was the compelling and constantly varied soy sauce, while Iris was the vivid and energetic spice.

He didn't like to pick best, but spice was always his favorite flavor. It burned his tongue to be around it, yet other times it relaxed into a more timid taste. The daringness one needed to keep wanting more and see what would happen next kept him feeling aroused. Iris, that girl, she just reminded him way too much of that exact thing. She was never like any of those girls at the gym. It made him feel closer to her than Ash, and he was already pretty close to Ash.

Of course, there were other times he felt almost abandoned.

He didn't want to rub it into anyone's face, but why did they not listen to him?

That cat is a demon.

And they chose _him_ over the fabulous Sommelier.

Which brings him to the present: getting his sparkling-white suit dirty while quietly crawling on the ground outside Team Rocket's base, just so he can find out what happened to his friends.

"Good job, Purrloin." Dent looked around from his spot on the floor, what was that? There was no one outside with him, so he could only assume that it came from inside the building. He tip-toed up to the closest door, intending to open it just a crack.

And then it came. "_Puuurrr._"

The sound sent shivers down his spine. Oh, of course. If Ash and Iris were really in there, the beast would be too. It was embarrassing to think he had completely over thrown that possibility.

Taking a huge gulp, Dent grabbed the door knob and lurched it back gently, only to find that it didn't budge.

Huh? Wow…he hasn't seen a lot of locked doors in his time. Much less a steel one which wouldn't break with a bullet seed. As of now, he found no choice but to continue listening.

Nothing.

What were they doing now? He pressed his ear closer to the metal.

"Puuuurrr-loin! Puur!"

Dent gasped. Oh. My. Arceus. They were torturing Ash and Iris! Team Rocket must've understood the evil behind Purrloin and decided to unleash his powers right in front of them. It would be a horrible taste to just stand there and watch his friends get tortured! Oh, _now_ that monster of a cat was going to pay. Just about to send Stunfisk to fly onto the roof, something wacked him from the back of his head.

Dent looked up at the piece of cloth connected to the string, then his eyes wandered to how it attached itself from the window above him to a safe distance from the ground. And a smirk crossed his features.

…

_It's Masked Sommelier time!_

TTTTTTTTTT

"Let us go!" Iris sent the strongest and scariest glare a 10-year old could give, her hands holding tightly onto the jail bars encasing her and Ash.

"Yeah, Team Rocket!" Ash yelled.

"HA! As if we'd let one of Team Rocket's longest-time nuisances out!" A 6-foot man towering above the cage was casually leaning against the wall, reading the latest issue of Jynx gone Wild.

"Wait a minute, Mary." A scrawny man no taller than Ash held a finger towards him. "So _he's_ the guy?"

"Yup."

"But he's only 10 years old-"

"No I am _not_!" Ash screamed indignantly. "Why does everyone think that?"

"Um…okay." The giant placed the magazine down on the table open to a page of a Jynx in a rather revealing bikini, before stepping closer to the three. "The point is, Josephine, headquarters wants the brats written off, and that means they're going to be here for a while. Right, Purrloin?"

"Puuur." He wrapped himself against Mary's leg, sending a smirk to the two children.

"I-I can believe you betrayed us!" Iris kicked against the cage, hard. "Better yet, I can't believe the idiot was actually right! You _were_ nothing but a demon that was helping out Team Rocket all along!"

"H-How could you…?" Ash frowned and Pikachu looked disappointed.

The scrawny man laughed. "You kids just have to accept that not everything is all sunshine and rainbows out th-"

_*BANG!* *SNAP!*_

"Hey, what was that?"

"That sounded like the clothes line outside, Sir."

"Damn it, don't tell me those wild Pidove made off with our customized electric-proof Team Rocket socks again. I told everyone at headquarters that letting me do the laundry this week was a bad idea, but do they ever listen to me? Noooo-"

_*SMASH!*_

"Never fear my friends!" Dent swooped onto the Balcony, the sun hitting his mask so it shined and his cape dancing in the wind. The only flaw in the fabulous scene being the pair of Team Rocket shorts stuck on his head. "For the Masked Sommelier is here!"

Everyone gaped at him. Except Iris.

Josephine shook. "Yo! I paid 30 bucks for that window."

"What he means to say is, who the hell are you?"

"He just said who he was!"

Mary punched him. "Well soooorry but I couldn't hear it over your _financial_ problems."

"My wife works at freakin' McDonalds! Do you have any ide-"

Dent pointed a heroic finger at the both of them. Yes, this was the moment he had been waiting for. The time when he would come in and rescue his dear maiden and monsieur in such an auxiliary flavor of which all movie Sommeliers across the world would be raving about! He jumped to the ground to continue talking. "Now, where did you keep my dear Airisu?" And almost covered his mouth right after.

Wait, what?

"Wait, what?" Iris peeked her head from behind the cage.

"U-Uh, I mean: where did you hide my two friends?" Dent regained his heroic voice.

Iris facepalmed.

"Wait, dumb question." No, no, no! He was completely messing this up! Dent coughed, knowing it wasn't over yet. "Now let them go, Team Rocke-"

"Puur."

No. This wasn't happening…that voice. That cursed voice was so close to him that it could only mean…

Dent looked down.

With the power of a fear which was greater than when Litwick tried to send him to the Spirit World, or when he was stuck in Gothitelle's time loop, heck even when a Fangirl trapped him in her washroom for two days straight, Dent shrieked and jumped back 15 feet.

Purrloin smiled with a sinister plot matching the gaze of fifty glares from a Charizard, before jumping up to his shoulder, licking his nose passionately.

Dent shrieked again and fainted.

Ash facepalmed.

TTTTTTTTTT

"Dento…? Dento?" Who was that angelic voice speaking to him? Maybe it really was an angel, sent down from above to congratulate him for his good deeds.

"…WAKE UP YOU PAIN!"

Dent groaned and cracked his eyes open. "…Airisu? Am I dying?"

Iris smacked him with the Team Rocket shorts.

"You're such a pain!"

"Ow!"

"You know what happened? You just got captured by Team Rocket too!"

At this, he bolted up in shock. "That can't be…but I'm the Masked Sommelier…"

Ash, being the inappropriate one, held up the shorts Iris had thrown to the ground. "Hey, Dento. Mind if I keep these shorts? I've always wanted a pair."

They stared at him.

"…what?"

Iris shook her head, causing stray strands which escaped her braid to cascade on her shoulder. He had always found it fascinating how she managed to keep her massive pool of hair so clean. It already took him at least an hour a day to keep his stubby green hair neat and presentable. Yet hers just always seemed to be that way.

Said girl interrupted his musings of hair-care by turning a shape eye on him. "Why did you come follow us if all you were planning to do was _that_? Though I can't say I expected any less from you…"

Dent smiled weakly. He had to admit it didn't go the way he had hoped. "I was just trying to help, Airisu."

"Hmph!" In response, she turned away from him with crossed arms. "Well you didn't!"

After that, an awkward silence overtook the cage, only interrupted by Mary's occasional loud perverted laughs from outside the door. Eventually, a new wave of sound made itself known in the form of Ash's obnoxious snoring, and only then did the remaining two realize just how late it was.

'_Even so, he can fall asleep so easily, almost like he's been kidnapped a million times before…what a relaxed and somber taste._' Different unexpected varieties; Ash was soy sauce indeed.

The boy turned his head to Iris who still had her back faced to him. She acted sharply around him some times but in others would be sweet and willing to allow herself to be read. He didn't always taste it due to its zing, but he still always came back to it. Dent sighed; just like he was going to do now. "Airisu, are you mad at me?"

To his surprise, she shrugged. "No, not really."

He immediately felt a bowl of relief wash over him. He didn't want spice to be mad at him.

To his bigger surprise, she continued. "It's just…I guess yelling at you makes me feel better. How weird, huh?"

And for the first time since his capture, Dent smiled a real smile. "It's not weird at all. It's kind of like how food changes. One claims to have a favorite taste," _Such as spice._ "But if they have too much of it, your perspective of it begins to warp. It seems strange and new at first, but you'll grow to understand and hopefully love it again. Things change and just seem weird. You can't help that they do."

To this, Iris grumbled to herself. But he only caught the half smile which bloomed her features.

Dent raised his eyebrow. "Pardon?"

She frowned, "I_ said_ you're the one who needs to go change. Your mask is really starting to freak me out!"

TTTTTTTTTT

"_But you never change…_"

TTTTTTTTTT

**In case you didn't get it, this was originally a crack-script I wrote on the Wishfulshipping thread at Serebii forums before the Purrloin episode aired. It's mostly my take on the 'what if' aspect on Purrloin really being evil and working for Team Rocket.**

**I fail at this, so badly.**

**And yet I'll be writing at least another two one-shots just to torture you guys. I have a feeling I'll lose readers for this per chapter faster than any other story I've written.**


	2. Jealousy

Ah, cooking.

It was and always will be one of Dent's favorite past times when he was bored. He could never understand why some hated it so much. Cooking was a grand and necessary essential to life. And really, he couldn't stomach the lists of reasons those people came up with. Burning a finger was a great pain, overheating a pot of water was what he did on his first try, somehow blowing up a dishwasher in your boyfriend's face and getting arrested for arson…well, he supposed he could understand taking a break from the kitchen for a few hours.

But, what he loved the most were the utensils used for cooking.

They were simply a work of art. Clearly done by people who had very exuberant and well-thought out tastes for the true meaning of what the skillful hobby entailed. It was only proven as he heard the minimal clanks forming a soft melody of his serving spoon against the side of the pot. The happy chatters of Ash and Iris behind him didn't falter his arm when he lifted it up to sample the liquid. It was finally ready!

"It's dining time!"

The two younger children behind him finally paused their chatter as Dent lowered three bowls of hot soup onto their makeshift table, clearly hungry. This time, he had used a few of Pansage's herbs on the top of his head in a recipe which assured all of them would recover their full strength. They needed it after narrowly escaping Purrloin and Team Rocket the other day. It was strange but no one ever thought that any of them could just squeeze through the bars, so they spent a good day or two starving to death until Ash accidentally tripped on Pikachu in his hunger-induced rage and fell right through them. Apparently the two other men had ordered an adult-sized cage.

Ash was still grumpy about it. "Thanks."

On contrary, Iris was in a good mood. "Yeah, thanks!" And dug into her meal readily.

"Um, Dento? Can I ask you something?" He looked at Ash with a questioning smile. It was strange seeing the boy's meal untouched as Iris ignored the both of them and was nearly halfway done. "This will help make me taller, ri-"

"Oops!" Iris stopped in the middle of her episode of attacking the plate when she felt the warm metal of her spoon fling out of her grasp. As much as Dent didn't like to brag, he had the reflexes of a fast and fabulous Connoisseur: quite possibly the best in the world. So as his one green eye landed on the scene before him, he was already up from the table and diving at the shiny utensil, a state of panic coursing through his veins.

"Dento, look out for-!" Ash yelled out as if it would help. Dent's hands wrapped around the spoon at the same time his head shoved itself against the table behind them. Just like a domino, the giant pot of cooling soup above him tilted, spilling all its contents over the poor Connoisseur's body.

Iris was by his side in a blink. "Sorry, Dent! I guess that was my fau-"

"Eeee-AAAAAHHH! It's BURNING!" And the poor boy proceeded to run in blind circles. They both stared at him until Ash's eyes widened.

"Watch out for that-!" He stopped at the sound of a panicked Connoisseur colliding a tree nearby and recoiling back.

"Ah, and be careful of-!" Before tripping on a rock.

"Um, and the-" And stumbling into the lake. Ash ran a hand down his face. "Oh forget it…"

"Now _that_," Iris pointed to the stream, "was not my fault."

TTTTTTTT

Dent was never more grateful in his life that Ash had an Oshawott on hand.

Back when he fell into lakes as a young child, Pod would throw his Pansear into the water without thinking all the while screaming something about rescuing his awesome little bro. This was always followed by him having to dive in himself after realizing that oops, fire was weak against water and oops, he couldn't swim any better than his fire monkey. While this was happening, Corn would stand on the excuse that he left his Panpour at home because Commoner lakes were too dirty for him. Pansage always ended up having to rescue all three of them, which still took quite a few hours seeing as he couldn't tread waters very well either.

He fell into lakes a lot.

"Dento, are you okay?" Ash asked him in concern right after recalling Oshawott into his pokéball and thanking him.

Said man sighed but smiled back. "It was a relatively calm lake so-" His hair fell haphazardly over his face and he lifted it back up trying not to look annoyed. "…I should be fine."

"Ah, that's good!"

Both males turned to Iris.

"…what are you two staring at?" She snapped and turned away from them in a huff. Grabbing an apple off a tree behind her, she continued. "I already apologized for dropping the dumb spoon!"

Dent froze.

Her words finally processed in his mind, and he proceeded to hyperventilate until fainting.

"W-Wait! What happened to it?" He choked out between gasps, his legs twitching.

"You mean the spoon? Well you were holding onto it when you fell in and-"

Dent ignored Ash, unable to control his body as he turned to Iris in horror. "Y-You…" He couldn't believe it! After over twelve years of priming and treating it as if it were his own child, the very first spoon he used when he was born and ate his first bite of bad-smelling Audino baby food as he sat in his pansage-shaped high chair decorated with stickers of food; it was gone. What a bitter and unappealing taste. "F…Florence is GONE!"

"Who's Florence?" The dense Ash asked densely.

They ignored him again. "You _name_ your spoons?" The purple-haired girl narrowed her eyes.

"I can't believe she's gone!" Dent cradled his head as if it would explode. "Oh, this is such an intolerable situation! WHAT KIND OF CONNOISSEUR AM I FOR LOSING HER?"

Iris bit into her apple. "…an intolerable one."

At this, Dent directed a blank gaze to her. "You know, Airisu. A real lady would take care of her silverware and _not _drop them onto the floor so clumsily."

"Uh…guys?"

"I _AM_ a real lady!" Iris spat out the words, mouth full and chunks of apple flying out.

"You can say what you want, _Iris_. But denial is a very unfitting taste on you."

"That's IT!" She threw her fruit against a tree across the field, effectively scaring a passing Galvantula. "Why do you always have to overreact to everything all the time? If anything, it's you who's in denial for freaking out so much over a stupid spoon! What a _kid_!" Without another glance, she stomped off into the forest.

Ash and Pikachu side-stepped Iris in fear, but the up-coming trainer still spared her an apprehensive stutter. "Um, Iris. There's-" But he stopped when she only gave him a passing glance and continued on her way. Ash frowned.

Dent came up behind him, bringing his attention back when he clasped a casual hand on the younger boy's shoulder. "Sorry, Satoshi…that was a very unnecessary scene for you to see. Now, what was it you were asking?"

Ash glanced over his shoulder at Dent's forlorn eyes hidden behind a smile, and it only took one second for him to choose his next words.

"No, nevermind."

TTTTTTTT

"…Dento. Are you going to…?" Ash had just gotten out of bed, but seemed wide awake. Dent was doing what he always did when he was bored. He was cooking.

"Yes, Satoshi. Did you want breakfast?"

"No. I'm not hungry." As those words left Ash's lips, Pikachu could've sworn a Munchlax died somewhere in the world. "But Iris hasn't been back since yesterday. Shouldn't we go find her?"

The other male set his pan down, sighing in slight guilt. When he awoke first this morning as usual and couldn't spot her sleeping bag anywhere, he was already driven into an internal state of panic which somehow made him look completely calm on the outside. But…he really shouldn't feel too concerned for her health and abilities. Iris was used to living in forests. She could always find food and she seemed alright travelling on her own up until whenever she started following Ash around. And eating his cooking for the past month or so didn't wane that skill in the bit.

He shouldn't worry about her.

Then again. What if a giant Pokémon attacked her? She always had Excadrill.

Then then again. What if a giant _ice_ type Pokémon attacked her? She could always run away.

Then then then again. What if a giant ice type Pokémon as sinister as _Purrloin_ attacked her?

In a moment, Dent was on his feet and facing Ash with a determined demeanor. "You're right, Satoshi. We better go find Airisu and see if she's alrig-" But was interrupted in the middle of his heroic speech when said girl appeared before them, seemingly jumping down from some high place around them. Dent was startled into falling on his bottom.

"Hey, guys! Check out what I found in the forest!"

Dent looked up, and proceeded to hyperventilate until fainting for the second time. "Wh-Why is that here?"

"He's our new friend!" Iris beamed proudly at the thing in her arms, petting it fondly. "Isn't that right, Purrloin?"

"Puurr!"

He looked at her in disbelief. Didn't what just happened a few days ago teach her anything about that Pokémon? "B-B-B-B-B-B-B-But Airisu…you k-k-know I'm uncomfort-t-table around Purrloins…"

"So?"

"…Wow, Iris. You're in a good mood." Ash was in a slight state of shock himself, but it didn't stop his quiet observation. Shouldn't she be storming around the campsite and flailing her arms at anyone who wouldn't get out of her way?

"Why wouldn't I be?" She sent Ash a wide smile before turning around. "I'm going to go train Axew now. Call me when breakfast is ready!"

Dent finally recovered from his state well enough to form coherent words. "Uhm, A-Airisu? Do you want me to watch your training, you know, as a gym leader?"

"No thanks." And she made her leave, Purrloin and Axew in tow.

Ash's eyebrow shot up and he scratched his head in confusion. "But…doesn't she always want you to watch her training? Dento?" He turned to the unresponsive teen who was currently sulking over his cooking pot. "…Deeeeeeento?"

Even for an A class Connoisseur such as himself, it was difficult to suppress his negative emotions behind that wall of confidence he usually had. This was different from that time when Iris and Ash accidentally dropped a leaf into his stew, or when he found out he had to work at Burger King for the week because the Striaton Gym would be closed for some prestigious party. It was very different. Despite that, Dent did what he always did when he was depressed those other times. He turned to his collection of spoons and smiled weakly at them.

"Well…at least I still have you guys."

"What do you mean by that?"

Dent almost fell out of his chair. "J-Jacklin, did you just talk?" Jacklin was his fifth spoon he received at his Uncle's funeral. A lady with a giant mole dropped it on the ground.

"No, she didn't. That's why she's talking to you."

"Karen, you can speak too!"

Jacklin sighed in the way spoons could sigh. "Nevermind that. But it looks like you got dumped by your girlfriend."

Huh? Did he miss something?

"I-I'm sorry." He could feel a slight tingle run up his spine, somehow making what he was going to say harder. "But Airisu is not my-"

It was then another voice joined in. "And who can blame her?" Dent brought his gaze up to see that it was his cloche speaking these painful words. "He can barely keep our coats clean and yet we expect him to be able to treat a lady right?"

"W-Wait a second, Dento Junior. What do you mean by that? I shine all of you perfectly well every-"

"Yeah? Then why do I have this giant splotch on my handle?"

"OH MY-I'm so sorry, Matthew! I promise from now on to-"

Dent stopped when he felt someone breathing into his ear and Ash's ringing voice. "It's too late now…" And jumped back 10 feet just to see him and Iris staring towards his confused body with smirks on their faces. Well, this was out of character…

"We've decided to travel without you." Ash said blandly, but what alarmed Dent was when he bent down towards the table and grabbed every one of his silverware he was just conversing with. "And Jacklin, Karen, Matthew, and Dent Junior all agreed."

His first instinct was to yell "it's Dent_o_ Junior, Satoshi! Don't mispronounce it if you're going to take on such a scary taste!" but Dent gently knocked his head to rid his brilliant mind from those thoughts. Then, he chuckled slightly and closed his eyes. '_T-This is all a dream, isn't it?_'

"You aren't suitable to come with us, kid!"

Dent flinched, but kept focusing on his quickly dwindling laughter. '_A dream, right. When I open my eyes, I should be able to wake up…_' And slowly but anxiously, his two emerald colored pupils found their way from under his eye lids.

Just to see Purrloin a centimeter away from his face.

And lick his nose.

TTTTTTTT

"EEEEEEEyeeeeeEEEEEHHHHhh! NOT **AGAIN**!"

"Dento! Wake up…hey!" He opened his eyes to a voice which was not Purrloin, sparkling tears brimming on the edge of his eyelids. When he saw who it was, he immediately jumped at them with arms spread out in a forceful hug.

"H-Hey, what are you doing?"

"Airisu! Please, I am BEGGING you! Frame your Purrloin at least 20 -no, 500 and possibly an extra 60 feet away from me!" He only tightened his embrace around her flustered figure.

"Huh?"

"You and Satoshi and Jacklin and Karen and Matthew and Dento Junior can all leave without me! Just please keep _him_ away as well!" He didn't want to be left behind, but if that's what his two friends really wanted, then he would accept it for them.

"Dento, I think you just had a bad dream. There's no Purrloin." Ash, clad in his pajamas, was watching the scene from a few feet away.

"Pika…chu…"

"Oh?" Finally pulling himself away from Iris, he took in his surroundings, realizing how it was still night. Then, playing the events of the day in his head, he turned back to the girl and asked hopefully. "…all of it?"

Obviously still shocked, Iris huffed at him. "Yes, you kid! And your screaming woke all of us up!"

Dent visibly deflated.

Iris calmed down enough to look at him worriedly. "Dento, what's wr-"

She was interrupted as he broke out into light chuckles. "…Kid, hm? Not all of it, Airisu."

"Are you drunk or something?" Iris made a move to rant on about how annoying he was being, but was stopped once more when she felt his arms around her for the second time in the past five minutes. She tensed further when his breath hit her ear and he whispered the words she had been denying she wanted to hear since this morning.

"_I'm sorry, Airisu…Florence means nothing in comparison to you."_

Utensils were a work of art. Cooking was an essential for life. But he would never pick them over her. Did she really not trust him that much? Or did she just want to hear him say it?

It was when she started feeling a warm shiver run down her body that Iris finally called this whole thing impossible and pushed him away embarrassedly. "F-Fine." She mumbled between her sudden quickened heartbeats.

"Hm?"

She looked down. "I'm sorry too. We both overreacted."

And Dent felt happier than he ever did, maybe better, since this morning. "Thank you, Airisu."

"Whatever. You're such a pain…"

Watching from his spot by the dead campfire, Ash let out a smile in relief. "Finally…" he whispered to himself. Deciding that it was enough, he sighed and mentally prepared himself before slowly walking up to the two who were still engrossed in a comfortable silence.

"Um, guys?" He held a hand behind his head when both of their attention was on him. Then, fished a spoon out of his pocket. "After Oshawott saved you, Dento, he found this spoon wedged between two rocks further downstream and gave it to me. Good thing, huh?"

"…"

TTTTTTTT

**Yes, these stories are so crack-induced.**


	3. Trust Me

Iris bit into her apple awkwardly, the juices of the fruit seeping through her teeth and up and down her tongue until they inevitably fell into her throat. Then, seeing as there was no more meat for her to pick at, stood up to throw out the core at the garbage can and rinsed her hands before drying them on her skirt.

She reached her arms up to stretch them out, but cringed at the pain that flowed through her shoulder. Though with barely any hesitation shook it off and settled for rubbing the spot soothingly. She had been sitting for a good half-hour. And now there was about another 15 minutes left of lunch with nothing to do. She didn't mind.

In fact, going to class early became a habit of hers. She'd rather sit in an empty classroom than have to deal with everyone at the cafeteria. As much as her pride didn't let herself say so, she was never that popular around here. Not to say boys didn't occasionally ask her out on the fascination of her unusual hair color, but everyone else was honestly freaked out by it. She was eating an apple in the bathroom at lunch for her Axew's sake!

But, that wasn't the reason she did it anyway. She bet her whole gymnastics scholarship that when she left the girl's barrier provided sympathetically by the school, _he_ would be there. Who was this he?

Iris opened the door, and to her great and totally not-expected surprise saw that he really had been waiting for her the whole time. "Oh, Airisu! I've been standing out here for a while. That was a long bathroom break."

He was a pain, that's who he was.

He was also blatantly oblivious to anything she said. She didn't get it. He was definitely one of the pretty boys at this school, yet stuck to her like glue ever since five months ago when he, dressed in a prince costume complete with a crown and cape, dragged her to a park filled with candle lights, a giant chocolate cake, and a bouquet of irises and professed his undying love for her. Now that was new. She was grateful he didn't end up being some kidnapper, but she didn't even know who he was at the time! The cake was good, but of course she said no!

Boys would usually give up by then. In fact, a week later she usually saw them making out with some other Blondie near the staircase. You know, that area under the steps yet not quite by the door? Yeah, great place. Seeing as anyone within sight could see them, and those still pitifully descending the stairs unaware of what permanent damage would invoke their eyes could hear them anyway, thinking that disgusting slurping was the janitor mopping up some spilled up soda. What kids…

So, when she saw the object of her frustration smiling expectantly at her, she turned the other way and walked out of the hall.

"Oh, Airisu. Wait for me~!" He called her cheerfully and countered all her attempts at avoiding him by skipping right next to her. "You know, I was thinking that you would like to go fencing with my brothers and I after school at our house. I myself don't prefer the taste of stabbing people, but Pod is pretty exuberant at it even though Corn always ends up locking him in the supply closet halfway through. I wonder why he does th-"

"No, thank you."

"Ah, so you don't like fencing either. Then how about ballet? I'm actually the best out o-"

Anger grated on her nerves. "No."

"I suppose you're one of those badminton types-"

She turned to him with a blank frown. "Look Dento, sorry but I have to do _a lot_ homework. You know, for **Accounting** class." Not even he could not realize the boringness and suicidal subject that was accounting. Every student in the school hated it, even Belle. But as soon as the words lingered between them, she could tell he was going to open his mouth to say something else. So she slid the door in his face and maneuvered to her desk at the very back, ignoring the shock of discomfort itching through her skin when she shuffled through her books.

"Early as usual, huh?" Iris froze.

The front of the board was empty, so she knew that the oncoming voice could only come from the one she knew best.

And, before she knew it, two bodies held her down and the pain in her shoulder found a friend.

TTTTTTTT

She was in a darker mood than usual when she left the front doors that day. All she wanted was to get home and see her cheerful baby Axew again. The teacher lectured on and on about some ancient grass which she already knew a lot about from her grandmother. Then, at the one question she didn't know the answer to that kid had called on her to answer it like the idiot she was.

"AAIrisuu!" Crap. Only one person she knew pronounced her name like that.

She turned, giving him a demonic stare. "What d'you want, Dento?"

Dent didn't notice. "Since you're going to do Accounting homework, do you want me to accompany you in your studies? We could calculate stock markets together! Or perhaps you want to begin on today's assignment researching on the economy of unprocessed Sarimi?"

Iris gaped at the space in front of her. '_Is he serious?_' "Are you serious? Why would you want to do that?"

"I've always wanted to learn more about the Japanese's clever solutions to their decline in fishery. It's actually very intriguing to compare economic profits between time periods an-"

"Ugh, NO!" She resisted the urge to kick him, so kicked a trash can while imagining his face embedded into it.

"Hm?" Clueless smile.

"Listen uh…I have an Axew and he's _really_ sick." Iris knew the one thing Dent hated most was dirt and germs, next to Purrloins as he once gave a whole speech about their evil during his campaign to become school president. "Like, he has rabies which can spread some unknown virus and whenever anyone gets close to him, he lashes out in anger and bites the closest thing. And my house is _really_ small, so we'd have to study sitting right next to his raging body."

"Oh dear! I should call a doctor. It can't be safe for a fair maiden to be living under such a threat! Let's go to the hospital together!"

"Won't you get bored?"

"We can take turns reading magazines about talk show foods and celebrity life to the children there. Then, go to the vending machines they'll surely have and discuss our favorite healthy snack name brands while debating about which one to buy and of which is the best quality to feed your Axew when he's ready. If there's still some time left over we can take a detour of their kitchen and I'll make dinner for the two of us!"

Iris held her head. "Ow, it hurts…"

"Do you need to see paramedics as well, Airisu?"

"Go study on your own! Why do you keep on bothering me?" He was such a…PAIN.

At this, Dent's tone softened but he still had that goofy smile as when he was talking about Japanese fishing. "Because I like you, Airisu."

He liked her. No matter how many times he said that in the last few weeks, she still couldn't get used to it. So when the line made her pause in shock and blush for even a second, she couldn't help but think she was going insane. The girl turned to him with narrowed eyes. "I barely know you. So cut it out."

The slight spark of sadness which showed in his eyes whenever she rejected him always made her feel guilty. But of course, every time, before she could try to lighten and send him off nicely, he always bounced back like the weird person he was. Instead of yelling, crying, or running in circles in complete fanboy rage while eating 10 gallons of ice cream and watching sappy foreign soap operas by himself on cold winter nights, he simply crouched in front of her and poked her forehead with a grin. "Ah, but that's why I want to get to know you more! And what better way than through unprocessed fish?"

"I can think of a lot."

Dent ignored her. "Then, let's get going!"

"H-Hey! Hold on, I didn't agree-"

"Iris, there you are." A strong yet dry cough came from in front of them. The addressed turned just in time to run up to the shorter figure and pat her back supportively as the woman continued coughing nonstop. A fit of wheezes sounded through the air, while Dent stared at the scene curiously.

"Elder! You shouldn't be out here so late in the fall. What are you doing here?" Iris quickly sifted through her backpack for her canteen of water, unscrewing the cap and forcing it to the other's mouth.

"Calm down, Iris!" The woman shooed the bottle away with a small smile. But it quickly disappeared into a forlorn gaze under the sunset. She took a breath, finally speaking just as the young girl re-zipped her bag. "I had to come to tell you something because it would've taken too long to wait for you to walk home."

"Huh? Why couldn't you tell me when I did?"

"Well, I have to leave for the airport before I miss a flight."

Iris frowned. "You have _another_ conference?"

"Yes, that is correct. But I'll be gone for a month this time." She looked guilty, "I'm sorry. Just try to make it on your own until then-" But before she could finish, the elder erupted in another episode of coughs, seemingly choking on air as drops of saliva were thrown out from her mouth and to the ground. Iris resumed patting her back furiously, but it didn't seem to help. The hacks only deepened, nearly drowning the whole parking lot in its unpleasant sound.

"Here."

Iris stopped to see Dent holding out a medium-sized cup filled with a pale yellow liquid. "It's a chicken broth I made this morning enhanced with the freshest nutrients I cut up myself. I think she needs it." She stared at it.

"Thanks." Without looking at him, she quickly snatched it and held it to her guardian's lips, smiling as this time the woman didn't protest against drinking it.

"Th-Thank you, young man." She wheezed out after taking a satisfying gulp. She was smiling right after. "I'm really sorry I have to be gone so long this time, Iris." But Iris wouldn't have any of it.

"Elder, that's not the point! You can't keep going to these conferences when you're so sick! Just-"

"I'm not having this conversation again." Elder stated sternly. She almost seemed to snap herself into a whole different person as she sauntered herself back into her gray car, back as straight as can be and posture without a single flaw. However, before leaving, she let the window slide open and called out a weak "good bye, Iris" before backing out of the driveway.

Silence filled between the two. And the girl wasn't in the mood to fill it when she herself walked away without a single word, not saying a thing when Dent so loyally and painfully followed her just as he promised moments ago. And their tread to wherever they were going continued like that. Silent and uncomfortable.

"Thank you." Dent muttered a minute later.

Iris didn't reply.

"I'm really flattered that you can trust me."

"…what are you talking about?"

He was glad he had got her speaking again. "The broth."

The girl immediately understood. "Why wouldn't I? I know you're an amazing cook. And you wouldn't try to poison her or anything…"

"Ah, but she's the most important person to you, isn't she?" Iris turned to him in disbelief. "And her illness is pretty acute. Many ingredients out there could upset any system in her body, which is especially dangerous when she's driving. I take it since this isn't the first time, you were very much aware of that." Hearing this, she turned her gaze to the ground and let out a hesitant nod.

"Don't worry. The effects of the broth I made this time are very soothing for the stomach and helps strengthen the immune system. Do you wish to try out the recipe? It will surely-"

Iris tuned him out for the rest of the walk, which she was an expert at anyway. Just this one time, she strangely found his company and annoying rants comforting. In fact, it almost escaped her that she had on the brightest grin she had ever remembered having on her face since she was ten years old and completely oblivious to the shallow whispers and subtle mocking happening around her. She was also awkwardly hitting puberty and wondering why her chest was suddenly exploding but that was besides the point. It was just great to have someone understand and accept her request for once. However, Zekrom was feeling cruel that day so just when her foot reached its fourth step, a rock which had appeared out of nowhere stabbed into the sole of her shoe, forcing her ankle sideways into a twisted position and her body to fall forward.

"Ow!" And as the knight in shining armor he aspired to be, Dent turned from his position on the sidewalk in panic, just as Iris' slightly oversized jacket slipped away from her body before she hit the ground. She clutched her foot roughly, biting her tongue several times to rid herself of the pain, so she barely noticed the short gasp which came from beside her.

"Iris…!" She turned to see Dent a few feet away and looking at her in shock. But she didn't get it. She just twisted her ankle! Did her foot go and snap off and start eating innocent children while she was at it? But the breeze which danced against the bare skin around her collar bone and shoulders told otherwise. The almost setted sun revealed the dark black bruises covering the large portion of her right arm which travelled strong to her neck and across to the left side of her chest going completely noticed for the world to see.

She knew she shouldn't have worn a strapless today. And he only continued to stare at her.

The girl knew what was coming next, so she quickly stood up against the throbbing in her leg and held up her hands defensively. "I-I know you're going to freak out! I fell out of a tree in my yard yesterday, that's all. P-Please just pretend you didn't se-"

"Oi, Dento!" The second shout of the afternoon interrupted her.

Despite giving a nod of acknowledgement, Dent didn't take his eyes off the dark stains in his friend's skin as a group of teens marched up to the pair with a powerful grace in their steps. Iris self-consciously staggered back into her school jacket before the outside party could see anything.

The one at the front stopped first to nudge Dent in the stomach irritably. "I've been waiting in the library for an hour now! You promised to help me look up new books on cooking, remember?" At this, giggles sounded from the girls behind her.

"Hi, Dento-kun!"

"How have you been, Dento?"

"Good day?"

Shaking out of his daze, Dent shot the other girls small smiles and nods, then turned to the leader with a stoic stare. "I'm sorry, Carbernet-san. But I believe I only agreed to such arrangements once you've apologized to that young freshman Ash Ketchum for insulting his choice in Pokémon."

"Why? I'm serious that that guy has no idea what he's doing!"

"His battling style has a delectable taste, and whether you agree or not does not give you the right to take on such an overcooked one yourself."

"Oh come on, Dentooo! Why do you keep hanging around that giant-haired freak?" Dent eyed the spot beside him to see Iris' reaction, but was horrified to find that it was empty. She had somehow slipped away during their conversation. "She's such a crybaby!"

Remembering her deep bruises and swollen foot, Dent shook his head. "She isn't."

"Uh, yeah she is." But truth be told, Dent wasn't paying much attention. This wasn't good. With all those injuries and a twisted ankle, Iris was just going to walk to a home which was completely empty all on her own? What was she going to do with herself for a whole month?

"Um, Carbernet-sama…?" One of the girls stuttered.

"And she never stands up for herself. She's too quiet."

The several times Iris rejected him crossed his mind and he frowned. "No, she's not."

"Why else do you think she's so weird? You know she always comes to school at exactly 7:00am just to study at the cafeteria? Then she shows up to our third period class together 10 minutes early and reads some stupid book. All she's got going for her is being athletic at gym, but what good is that when she won't even fight back if someone lands a few kicks on her?"

Dent froze, eyes wide with shock when realization hit them. He would normally be against everything that was crossing his mind that moment, but doing so now would've been simply tasteless. Carbernet continued ranting, but stopped when the boy of her affections sent the darkest glare she had ever thought possible from someone who always seemed to either be smiling or innocently spazzing.

"It was you, then."

She could've sworn a shiver of fear travelled down her spine. "Wh-What are you talking about?"

And just like that, the deep glare on his face edged back into an aloof frown. "I'm sorry, but I've got something more important to do right now than lecture you." Then, with all the might Dent's fabulous body could take, he sprinted off to find Iris in a sea of roads and trees.

TTTTTTTT

Iris limp-ran as fast as she could to her house, thoughts of what almost took place threatening to tear her apart. Why did everything have to be so complicated? High school sucked. Getting close to anyone sucked. And most of all, trying to get to your house 5 blocks away with a badly swollen ankle and the inability to twitch without something in your body hurting sucked. She always questioned it before but now she would never wonder again how some people got gray hairs by the age of 20.

She stopped by a tree on the side of the pond, catching her breath in small huffs. She was usually great at running, but her sudden exhaustion and hunger really affected it. The sun had finally retired for the day and the night air was starting to make her shiver. Yet those hardly seemed like even miniscule problems considering the confrontation she just narrowly missed. She ducked her head down so she could wipe it on her sleeve with the least amount of trouble. '_That really was a close one…_'

"Airisu!" Crap. Again.

All that ran through her mind then was: hide. That one word was enough inertia to get her climbing up the tree she was leaning on, shocks of pain hitting her ligaments with every new step she took. A trail of blood soon followed when a peeled stick tore through her leg. Dang it! Why'd it have to hurt so much? Why did he have to run after her? All she wanted was to go home and have some cake.

It wasn't until the first branch that a horrifying crack sounded from her collar. A surprised scream escaped Iris' mouth and she collapsed on the rough wood, a splinter forming on her cheek. Fine then. Let him find her. She didn't care! He could ask all he wanted about why she was such a mess and failure lying limp on a tree by the pond, but she wouldn't answer them.

Sure enough, it was her pained scream that had led Dent under the shade of the canopy, looking up at her exhausted form in horror. "A-Airisu!"

"…Wh-What," she whispered, "what do you want, Dento?"

"Get down from there! We need to get you to a doctor right away! And I'm sure your Axew would appreciate it too!"

"Y-You pain…" Iris snickered sadly. "Axew isn't sick. I just said that so you would leave me alone."

"Look, Airisu." Dent sighed. "I don't care if I never talk to you again. If that's what you want, then fine. But just let me help you this one time!"

"Go home, Dento."

"I refuse!"

"Then stay there all you want. I'm not going anywhere." Iris closed her eyes.

Dent nearly cursed. He would've ran home and apologized to Arceus a million times if he did. "Then please, at least tell me why she did it."

She found herself too tired to care anymore. "…Why who did what?"

"…Why did Carbernet hurt you?" So he did find out after all.

"…"

"Airisu!"

"…It's okay, this isn't the first time she did this."

He clenched his fists but kept his anger in check. "Then, why? Why does she do it?"

"…She used to be my best friend, you know." If Dent wasn't already looking at her, he would've shot his head up fast enough to snap it off. "She used to like this other boy back when she was ten. He rejected her, really badly. You should know who comforted her through the months that followed."

Dent wasn't that dense. He stopped, realization dawning on him. "…oh."

"But then you started liking me. Stupid how things turn out, huh?" She was too exhausted to move…getting sleepy…to deal with him or anyone anymore.

"H-hey, Iris! Please don't fall asleep! Sing the alphabet; call me a pain for not believing in ghosts! Just don't fall asleep! If you do, you'll-just don't!" He yelled desperately to her, scampering his way up the trunk but failing miserably. He didn't have Pansage with him and it was easily 10 meters high, much too far away for him to reach. Ash could probably defy gravity and run up the 90 degree distance and more on sheer will-power alone, and Dent wished now more than anything that he could do the same. "Listen, but Carbernet being your friend doesn't make those unforgiving things she does okay! I refuse to stand by and watch you like this, so please trust me and go to the hospital!"

She stayed immobile and silent.

"Airisu!" How many times had he yelled her name today? He lost count.

Then, to his absolute joy and horror, a jerk which emitted from the surface she was lying on woke her up from her daze.

The branch was snapping: she could make that much out from her tired state. Then, just as that fact processed in her mind, a fear followed it. She didn't want to fall! What if she hit her head and never woke up again? She wouldn't let it happen. She wouldn't let it happen. Iris repeated it in her head, which collected just enough energy from her to sit upright again and start desperately searching around for another branch to escape to. The branch snapped further.

One above her stuck out to her first, easily ascendable. But just as she prepared to stand and project her arms up, another slap of pain stopped her. Ugh, she forgot! The whole chunk of wood she was sitting on was shaking now, and panic rose in her body with each passing second.

"JUMP, Airisu!" Her head tilted down and could barely see the shadow of Dent below her with his arms out in the moonlight. She stared at him.

"Please Iris!" He had long ago thrown his bag down to the ground beside him. "Just trust me!" He repeated. "Like you had done with the broth!"

"_You trust me, don't you Iris?"_

"_Of course I do! Why wouldn't I?"_

"…_I'm sorry about this."_

"_Huh? Carbernet, why are you pinning me against the wall? I-Is this some game because it isn't f-funny!"_

But she didn't care. Iris leaped from the branch just as it snapped off and landed in his arms, sending both of their bodies toppling over from the force.

It was moments like these in which the green-haired boy always surprised her. Whether it was that time he showed up to her homeroom class with a valentine made completely out of irises and chocolate which was six times the size of her desk, or had willingly gotten beaten up and thrown in the garbage can sometime before he confessed by the school's bully just because he stuck mustard in her hair, he always did.

So, when Dent placed a wide grin on his face and adjusted his now dirtied bowtie from the mud around them, Iris found herself smiling back even after he told her he didn't think he liked her anymore.

He thinks he might just love her.

TTTTTTTT

**Cheesey-ness for the win.**

**I got the idea of Iris jumping into Dent's arms from the Suki Kirai / Like Dislike Wishful AMV on Pixiv (http: / / www. youtube . com / watch?v=04ebs9zR5K0). And yeah, this is a high school AU world where Pokémon still exist. Sorry for making Carbernet seem so evil, but someone needed to fill in that role.**


	4. Extravagant

Dent was never fond of exquisite parties.

Don't get him wrong, now! He loved the thrill of social gatherings and the joy they brought to people. He was supposed to be a renowned Connoisseur and waiter so of course he did. Additionally, the detail put into any crevice of the room was simply a work of art. Those smiles of satisfaction on everyone's faces always made everything worth it when he brought that first course dish to their dining tables and watched them dig in. It was divine!

That is, when he wasn't_ part_ of the party.

This time, however, was different. A long line of gym leaders, some from other far away regions, had been settled into the Striaton Restaurant, patiently congratulating the man on the top of the podium once their name was called. First of all, there was an unnaturally short man in the corner of the room by the doors which lead outside who kept staring at him suggestively and waving a fork in his direction using strange motions that a boy his age would not understand. Second of all, he didn't like it when someone else sat at _their_ podium. That was always where he and his brothers would welcome a beginning trainer before they brought their entourage of shallow fan girls to slowly pick at and devour their souls like a rice ball as the brothers themselves harshly yet gracefully beat their asses in. Erm, well they'd make sure to keep it modest and sane every time though.

Who was this mysterious tasteless man who was soiling their spot?

"And now, Dent!" He gulped. Oh, he hated confrontations like this. They brought on such a heavy pint of grain into his dish. Nonetheless, this was supposed to be nice and formal. So he made his way shakingly to the front in order to greet the much bigger man before him. Seriously, he could pass as the boss from that retro sword game Corn refused to stop playing. He had threatened him not to tell anyone when he woke up to get a glass of water one night and caught the blue-haired trainer in front of his computer, and an enraged Corn was never a good thing.

"Ah, so you're Dent, one of the gym leaders of this gym! Nice to meet you." And he stuck out his gigantic hand. Of course, Dent had to act like he loved this guy! There was no way he could voice his rather intimidated state at being in front of him. Out of all the gym leaders, this man was possibly the most powerful out of every one of them. And if he messed this up, he had a feeling Pod wouldn't have to finish unpacking his bags after all. From when they first moved in…_5 years ago_. He gathered all his courage and opened his mouth.

"U-Um…er." And closed it.

What was he supposed to say? An awkward silence drew afterwards. Dent flicked his eyes around the room; Mr. Tiny-man-with-a-fork was licking his plate but never stopped the pointing. No wonder he had no friends. Dent turned back to the large man. He needed to think of something.

And the fact that Drayden broke out into loud booming laughter didn't help. On the contrary, it made him shriek and almost jump under a table. "Aha! You're funny, kid!" He laughed again. "Don't worry about being so formal. I'm retiring…this is what this whole gathering is for you know. I won't be suing anyone if that's what you're thinking."

Dent dropped his mouth. "Y-Y-You're going to…sue u-us?"

Drayden chuckled. "Not unless you're a double agent for Team Plasma or something. But I'll be honest. You're probably the more interesting person I've talked to all night."

Panic encased, "so you are going to sue us?" Oh, he almost felt like crying!

"No." The dragon master replied rather dryly this time. Then, he laughed and took Dent's hand in an encouraging hand shake which sent his body rocking off the ground. "No wonder you're a gym leader. Nice to meet you and don't even think about congratulating me for at least another month or so. I think I've heard enough of those." When he finally let go to let the next guest be called, Dent only mildly noticed that his palm was now bent at a strange angle.

He didn't care, since it felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. It was over! He had gotten it over with and now all that was left was to avo-

"YO, LITTLE BROOOO!" Dent shrieked and really did jump under a table. "What are you doing here being so boring man?" Pod kicked the frightened body. After another good kick, the younger boy finally looked up from his spot with scared pupils, tears brimming through them.

Pod rolled his eyes and crouched in front of him. "You know how many girls there are here? And I mean high-class ones too. Not those empty Lovedisc geeks who'd pay a thousand bucks just to get a lock of our hair, but like, _real_, breathing GIRLS!" He grabbed onto Dent's shoulders and shook them for emphasis. By now he really did feel like crying.

Seeing the lack of response, Pod sighed and forcefully yet not enough to cause any pain, but quite a lot of pain, dragged Dent into one of the deserted hallways. "Come on, I'll show you something cool!" On the way, all he could do was flail his arms and cry about not wanting to be taken to wherever they were going.

"P-Pod-san! What about the customers?"

"They can get their own food. They're not idiots like the people who normally come here."

"It's necessary to be present for…erm, representing our gym."

"Trust me, man. Corn has that covered."

"I have to micturate!"

"Dude, I don't know what that means."

"UGH!"

But before he could come up with any other excuse, they had both stopped in front of an ominous looking door. Pod stood close to it, his ear pressed against the frame with a devious look on his face which unsettled the green-haired brother to no end. "Um, what are we doing he-" And was interrupted by a quiet flurry of giggles and laughter on the other side. It sounded…feminine. He looked past him, noticing the badly-drawn stick figure in a dress stuck to the wall.

And then it clicked in Dent's mind.

His face turned 29 shades of pink. He counted. "Oh, no! Pod, w-we can't do something like th-this!"

"And why not?"

"Because it's dishonest and goes against the quota of a good Connoisseur as rehearsed by the Pokémon handbook."

"…you need to get out more." And without hesitation, Pod effortlessly punched in the password and kicked open the door…revealing a shocked half-clothed Elesa who was still changing into her dress and a still-as-oblivious as ever _non_-clothed Skyla staring down at the two.

It took all of 2 seconds for Elesa to charge, whipping Pod straight in the face with the heel of her foot, knocking him out instantly. Dent really was crying when he scurried away, yelling out obscenities about how he was a horrible person and would never commit such a crime again. He was pretty sure he ran head first into a couple vases, crashed into fork man on his way and accidentally got his eye nearly poked out, but he ignored all of it. He found himself falling into the kitchen, the one place he knew would never betray him. With no second hesitation, he crawled into the corner and wrapped himself into a little ball, silently whispering about how the world was cruel and they needed to buy more bandages tomorrow for Pod.

It was in the middle of his fabulous mourning that he heard a clank. Oh, please no more! H-He just wanted to go reflect on his bad doings and make sure he visited the community center tomorrow to do a few hours. But no, his prayers were unanswered when the clanking continued. The ball of safety his body was wrapped into tightened. Fear began to poke further and further into his spine when the sound only got louder and louder. Then, the one noise he wanted to hear the_ least_ right now came; female giggling.

Dent shot up, his heads above his head. "I-I didn't see anything, **I PROMISE**!"

"AAHHH!"

"EEYAAH!" And he went back into a ball. Maybe if he pretended he didn't exist, whoever it was would believe him.

He shrieked again when the feeling of someone poking him registered in his mind. He tried to endure it and made to be some horribly warped carpet lying on the floor. But it didn't stop. That person kept poking him, harder and harder each time, until he couldn't take it anymore. He finally squirmed, and that was when the girl burst out into laughter.

"Hahaha! I got you to move, I win!" She gloated proudly, only just noticing the sound of hysterical crying from his shaking body. "Hey, what's the matter with you?" Dent shook his head, his shyness keeping him from looking at anyone for the umpteenth time in his life. Whenever he wasn't forced to, he tried to talk the least as possible. So people usually found him too awkward and weird to converse with.

He expected the girl to leave, but jolted back when her up-side-down face appeared right in front of his, her curious eyes studying him carefully for a good few seconds. She was a unique looking girl, with long rich purple hair tied in a cute hairstyle running down to her waist, and lighter-brown eyes. He suddenly felt subconscious, making sure to wipe away a few of his tears with his apron and fixing his hair so it stood up presentably once more. "U-U-Um, yes? Is everything…erm, alright miss?" But, she only shrugged and looked away, going back to the kitchen fridge to open it with an excited smile. Dent tilted his head, half of his fear melting. Did…she just have a sudden change of attitude? He knew that much as a Connoisseur, but he didn't understand why.

Then, he sighed in relief. She wasn't one of those enraged women back in that room. She wasn't here to painfully embed the toe of her foot into his face as he was sure Pod would be walking around like for the rest of his life. She was just a girl, maybe 3 or so years younger than himself, wandering around for something to eat. Perhaps a relative to one of the other gym leaders. Convincing himself of this, Dent gathered courage for the second time of the night and slide up to her, a gentle yet shy smile on his face.

"Um…did you want something to eat?"

"Hmm." She replied, and the whole half of her which seemed engrossed in the white box finally emerged with a bright green apple stuck between her hands. "There!"

Dent looked confused. "An apple?"

"Yup! I can have it, right?"

"Huh?"

"You're Dent, one of the gym leaders who lives here. This place is famous for its food and all that."

So that's what she was staring at him for, at least he thought so. "O-Oh, yes! And of course you may have it! Though…" He paused, looking unsure of what he was going to say next, but decided to come out with it anyway. "There is a-a lot more extravagant food in the main hall for you to eat. Surely…you didn't become famished and wandered in here just for an apple, correct?"

She shook her head and stuck out her tongue. "Bleh. I hate extravagant! And I was getting sick of being out there anyway."

He didn't know why he smiled just then. He probably disagreed with her more than anything else. "Oh, so an apple is enough for you?"

"Yup!" She bit into it and turned to him, her mouth full. "No offense because the food is great but…it's just too…well…"

"…extravagant?"

"Yeah, that!" She swallowed.

Dent sighed in slight shame. "I admit that when I received the recipes for the food they insisted on serving tonight, I strongly disagreed to the sprinkles of unoriginality and overtone. It's best not to let them know just how blatantly typical everything was." D-Did he just form a coherent sentence in front of her? And without stuttering! Normally he could only achieve that when talking to himself at the mirror at night and with a mop in his hand. Really, he could always talk this fluently…just not in front of anything living. And he was pretty sure she insulted him a good 3 or 4 times already, how ironic.

The girl made a face. "You talk weird. Such a pain to understand."

He ignored her, and instead opened the fridge behind them and drew out a full basket of apples, making her drool slightly at the sight. He chuckled, "how about I cook something that _you'll_ like? I'm a Connoisseur, so I have a skill for compatibility."

"A conna-what now?"

"…you'll see." And with that, he took out his cutting board, separating each object expertly into the thinnest slices anyone would think possible. He didn't think about it at the time, but all thoughts of perverted fork-men, Pod, raging gym leaders, and community involvement were washed from his mind as he cooked and she waited.

"Hey." Iris said impatiently, growing tired of playing with a chopstick. "Need any help?"

Dent smiled, "that would be quite alright." And so resumed the silence.

"Aren't you going to ask my name?"

"…if you don't want to expose that information, then that's up to you."

"Good." She seemed slightly chirpier at that. "I don't want you to know."

"Then that's fine."

"Hey."

"Yes?" He meshed the fruits into dough.

"I thought you were supposed to be awkward and depressed and all that. That's what I keep hearing from everyone who's battled you." She poked the counter with the stick.

He inwardly sighed and suddenly felt nervous, his stutter coming back. "U-Um, and do you believe all of that?"

She didn't notice. "…I'll be honest. I never take others' word for it. It's childish anyways! Like, a lot of people hear things about me and judge me for it. You get really tired of it after a while."

"Hm?" He looked up from his work.

"Oh, nothing…!" Her legs swung innocently from her seat and the sounds of chattering people from the room next to them could be heard. "Besides, you turned out to be quite a pain."

"Er, how so?" Some relief washed over him for hearing that, but it wasn't entirely gone. Most people were so worried about being polite to him, or just didn't bother at all. But the way this girl was so blunt, contrary to himself, yet still _here_ with him made her feel special in his mind.

"I don't know, you just are." The stick flipped between her brown fingers, interest building inside her eyes as she watched him sprinkle spices over his…whatever it was. "Are you sure what you're making is edible? It better be because I've been waiting for a while now!"

"It's been 5 minutes, dear."

"Don't call me dear." She flushed in embarrassment. Though it quickly went away as he set his already pre-heated oven and gently shoved the pan in. She supposed giving it a try wouldn't hurt. It was different. That's what she liked. Different and simple. Leaning back in her chair, it didn't take long to realize that Dent was now staring at her strangely. "What?"

"It's just so unusual for someone to want to miss such a prestigious party…considering that professional ones aren't held a lot."

"Well, you're here, aren't you?" He ran his hand through his hair in annoyance. He didn't miss how she dodged the question. But he let it go.

"It's more because of my brother than anything. I don't prefer these parties but I can endure them until they're over."

"Really? What'd he do?"

"U-Umm…" Dent looked around awkwardly then fidgeted with a corner of his apron. Part of him did want to tell her, because as much as his clean conscience didn't want to admit it, he was sort of angry at him. Just a little, obviously! Another part questioned his state of insanity and wondered if he was actually talking to a materialized version of his warped mind rather than an actual girl who cared to hear what he had to say. He had experienced crazier things before, that is unless he were to not believe what Corn told him and start thinking that Santa Claus really did exist and a Purrloin really did sneak in and steal his prized spoon collection.

"H-He…forced me into the girls' change room while Elesa-sama and Skyla-san were there and was promptly knocked unconscious by Elesa a moment later." Dent untied his apron and hung it from the side of the window.

Iris stared at him.

"I managed to escape and came here right after." He cringed at how evil he sounded right now, and only cringed further at how she suddenly pointed at him teasingly and with a wide smile on her face. "Geez, no wonder you were cryin' then!" She laughed.

"U-Um, I'm not a pervert you know…" He shyly whispered and glued his eyes to the floor.

"Yeah, your chanting of apologies to Arceus sort of gave it away."

"That was a lapse in judgment and result due by lack of coherence and proper thought process."

"So you admit to being a peeping Tom!" Dent sat from across the counter to her, a hand up to his eyes in fatigue. He knew, eventually her laughing would die down, right?

It did, only to the sound of the oven ringing did she stop. And Dent was all too eager to run up to the machine and present a large platter of cooked dough to place on the counter, running to sprinkle a last bit of after-flavor into the concoction. Maybe he was being a bit too hasty, and he would never forgive himself for making such a dire mistake, but it was then that the plate almost tipped out of his arms. To his relief, Iris ran over at lightning speed to save the pan at the last moment, and to his not so much relief snatched the whole item from his hands right after.

"H-Hey."

"Should've asked me for help, idiot." She set it down and looked at the new and strange food hesitantly, but her rumbling stomach took over and she reached over to take a large and juvenile bite.

Instantly, feelings of happiness and relief from any negative emotion she had washed over every one of her senses. The natural taste of the apple she had in her hand moments ago was clearly evident. Before long, she found herself leaning back in her chair and sighing in content while devouring whatever last bit of food there was left. Ah, now _this_ was real cooking!

"What's it called?" She spewed out crumbs in between chews.

Dent skillfully dodged an oncoming crumb to answer. "I made it up myself. It's named a _Sundae de Pommes sur une Cuillère_."

"Oh…" Iris only half processed this while popping the last piece in her mouth. "Aw, it's all gone!"

"But you've eaten the whole platter already."

"It was just getting good, come on Dentooo!" She stressed out his name, and he couldn't help but find it cute.

"Well, I suppose-" He was interrupted by a ringing which emitted from a small watch hanging off of Iris' wrist, and almost automatically, she sprung up from her content daze into a panicked state.

"Oh jumping bellossoms, I have to go!" Before he even knew what was going on, the girl in front of him, the girl who laughed and poked fun at him more than his brothers on a daily basis, the same one who he could actually talk to for real in the first time since he moved here, had ran out with a small "sorry and goodbye" and was gone from his vision like some kind of figment of his imagination.

Dent sighed. It was great when it lasted.

Back to being the...er, well he supposed what was the awkward and quiet one.

TTTTTTTT

He chose a seat at the very corner of the room, a large scarf wrapped around the lower half of his face and giant sunglasses encasing the rest. Of course, his green hair was a dead giveaway and had to be hidden under a subway masters' hat, limited edition in everywhere but Hoenn and prized possession of his collection of course. Anyone who looked at him funny, he pointed a fork at threateningly. He was starting to understand what Mr. Tiny-man-with-a-fork was getting at.

In truth, maybe he was simply hiding from an enraged Elesa too.

It was just as easy to climb back into bed in exhaustion, but protocol required him to be present for the final announcement before going anywhere. And Dent never broke any rules. No rule said he can't miss the after party and go fishing or something at 8:00pm in the evening, so that was what he was planning. He'd just have to hold up the cool and totally not freaked out look on his face until then.

"Hey, enjoying the party?"

Dent would've fainted, but stayed completely still. Oh, fudge doodles.

"Did you hear me?" The voice asked lower this time, wiping her long golden hair out of her face. "You're pretty silent."

Oh great. When he pretends to be some creepy child-knapper who threatens their enemies with pointy utensils, _then_ the most popular and well-known model in the region wants to talk to him. He turned to Elesa stiffly, barely catching her next lowered words. At least she didn't recognize him.

"You don't seem familiar. What's your purpose here?" He took a breath…

"MY purpose is MY BUSINESS, you GOT that little girl?" He wiped the fork in front of her face, effortlessly making her flinch. "I swear I can't go two days without a little whiny wiper such as yourself going around in tight dresses the size of the dimple on my pinky toe and skirts so short that the curvature of the island would be able to see _you_ micturate when I teach you a good lesson or two about self-respect! Why don't ya run along before the pupils in my eye get anymore infected with your shamelessness?"

"…O-Oh, yes sir! Sorry to bother you…" And she scurried away, likely scarred for life at what just happened. All she knew was that a longer dress would be on her body in her next gym battle…

Dent breathed out from his rant. Maybe being assertive wasn't so bad after all; though he wasn't sure it solved anything. He could feel Elesa's suspicious and freaked out eye on him every few seconds.

"Impressive, Dent." The addressed fell out of his chair at Corn's presence, effectively breaking his over-sized glasses against the floor.

"Not bad!" Pod appeared behind him, a blood bag and cast inserted to the side of his face. The wide smile he held honestly peeved him off.

"P-Pod-san!" Dent stood up abruptly, shaking all the same. "L-Look what I have to go through just because you were t-too…er, short-sighted to consider how your actions would affect me! Y-You better apolog-gize-b-but of course, if you don't want to…"

"Sh-SHHHH!" Pod smacked his hand against Dent's face, pushing him behind with it. "They're about to make the announcement!"

"Since when have you cared?" Corn retorted. Sure enough, the lights began dimming.

"Shut up, Bulma!"

"I told you I look nothing like Bulma."

"Yes you do, you're like a mutated cousin."

"Just because of my enhanced eye and hair gene does not mea-"

"Just admit that you're related to her so we can move on."

"Um, I don't think Corn looks like Bulma."

"YOU SEE, even Dent thinks so!"

"Dent agrees with everyone. Look, you even have a pet monkey. It's k-"

"SHUT UP!" A man from the crowd threw an apple at them, knocking Corn and Pod into their seats just as the curtains raised. Luckily no one else paid them mind. Caitlin, the elite four member of physic types stepped on just as Pod gave a cat whistle.

"Da-a-ang. She's one hot-" and was hit with another apple, right on the spot Elesa decked him. "AA-OOOWWW! WHO THE HECK DID THA-"

"Anyway." Caitlin announced, sweetly. "I am sure everyone is having a comfortable night, but we all know what the occasion is for. It seems that the retirement of one of our longest gym leaders is upon us, and as little as we may want, things have to change eventually. So, to confront and make the official let-off himself, here's Dragon Master Drayden!" Cheers emitted from the room and Dent clapped politely.

His speech was…to be blunt, a tad lacking in flavor and originality. Ever since taking over the gym with his brothers, Dent had become used to listening to these types of formal gatherings and if it wasn't for the fact that Drayden really was retiring, he wouldn't have thought any different for the way the man spoke on _their_ podium right this second. "And, with time comes fresh and new faces to run our city with pride and skill." He was stiff, quite different from the impression the green-haired boy had gotten.

"…and as I'm sure you've all been wondering." No, he was pretty sure he wasn't. "The Opelucid gym cannot just stay unattended after I resign. But do not worry, for I had long ago chosen a young trainer with the right techniques, Pokémon, and spirit to pick up where I'm leaving off." He had heard of this before from the newspapers. Official articles already described an athletic and feisty woman named Iris with substantial Dragon-type abilities, though they always refrained from showing any actual images of such a trainer. It made him a bit curious as to why. He had heard rumors that she was a delinquent and impossible to work with to the point that many resented against her. Despite that, the gym leader had made up his mind and assigned her the position. It just made the whole situation all the more alluring.

Drayden paused, as if unsure. He went on anyway. "The Unova region has wondered who it was, and I think it's about time I introduce her to you…" Uncharacteristically, he looked down and shook his head in annoyance. Then, to the crowd's confusion, walked to the back of the stage as if to retrieve something. Sure enough, that something appeared in the form of a small bouncy girl, who hopped onto the stage gracefully with a timid yet wide smile on her face. "H-Hi everyone!" She waved.

Silence ensued, with the exception of Dent choking on a croissant followed by dunking a litre of orange juice into his throat. The staring slowly ate away at her enthusiasm until she was left awkwardly standing with squared shoulders and an unsure gaze on her features. Her eyes flickered around the audience, hoping to find a certain green-haired friend she made just minutes before. To break the moment, Drayden appeared from beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders fondly. "This is Iris, and she's going to be taking over the Opelucid Gym."

"E-Excuse me, Drayden-sir." Clay rose a hand. "Beg me pardon' for raining on your decision, but…she's just a little girl."

"I am quite aware of that and her skills greatly surpass whatever age she may be."

"Isn't that the girl who ran over my Vanillish with a boulder?"

"I'm sure she was just scared, Brycen-" Drayden lifted an arm to calm everyone.

"She sprinkled chocolate over him and tried to get one of her Pokémon to eat him!"

"Well no offense or anything, but your little Vanillish is easy to mistake for-"

"Hey, I've seen her around. Hehe, kind of immature if you ask me."

"She's a prankster! I've hear a lot about her childish antics around Unova!" Dent frowned at Iris' continuously dropping face. How could they say such things about her?

"We don't think she's a bad girl or anything, Drayden. But she just doesn't seem su-"

"Enough." Finally, Drayden stopped the continuous ranting with a hard glare. "I am a Dragon Master of many years and I know a top-notch gym leader when I see one. Iris will be the replacement for the Opelucid City Gym, and Champion Alder already approved of it. None of you have any say against this."

"No, it's okay."

"Huh?" Drayden looked down at the purple-haired girl, barely catching her distant eyes before she turned with a smile to the crowd around her. "I understand. No one wants me to become a gym leader, so the best thing to do is to keep training and grow up a bit until I do."

"Iris…" Dent whispered, earning a confused glance from Corn.

"So, I'll just leave and keep training some more! Thanks for your time and giving me a chance though." With that, she bowed and made her way off the stage, only running away from the scene once she was out of sight. Drayden stared after in shock and turned to the leaders, face contorting from speechless to disappointment which quickly caused a train reaction from everyone standing nearby.

"W-We're so sorry, sir. But she really wasn't suitable to be the strongest…"

"It's best that she leaves now and learns from it. She can become better once she fixes her bad habits."

"Hmf, I'm not sorry. What a little wannabe."

Pod turned to his brothers, now holding an icepack to his head. "Man, that was harsh." Corn nodded, and Dent stayed silent throughout it all. "Maybe we should've said something…it's not like she's much younger than us anyway."

"That's the problem, Pod." Corn shook his blue head of hair with a frown. "We're _Striaton City_ gym leaders. We barely have much power past being able to show the guard at the door that we are actual legitimate members of this organization and not a bunch of rave-hungry teens hoping for autographs." The green-haired brother clenched his fists tightly, gently removing those broken sunglasses he had neglected to preserve just moments before.

"In other words, nothing we say matters." Pod sighed.

"Just about."

Dent just about had it. "Bullcarp."

"…bullcarp?" They repeated.

"Yes, **BULLCARP!**" He sternly shot himself up, scarf and hat still in spot as he calmly marched across the hall to the doors leading outdoors. Of course, on his way, fork-man, who was clearly guarding his quiet corner, finally made to glare at him with every bit of rage he had.

"HEY! No coming into my corner, buddy!" Dent ignored him. "Did you hear me, stupid man? No coming to MY CORNER!" With that, he lashed out and threw his sharpest fork at him. Dent gracefully wiped his hat off his head and caught it, the sharp object making small indentations in what was just his prized possession seconds ago, but meant nothing to him now.

"Excuse me…but you've been bothering me all night. Why don't you just. Leave. Me. _Alone_?" Without looking, he shot the fork back at the little man, pinning the metal against the wall and missing the sweating and shocked face by one centimeter. Dent continued on his trek and discarded his hat to the floor.

Unfortunately, now with his cap off and that combed-out mass of green hair for the world to see, a certain gym leader who had been keeping an eye on him had recognized it instantly. Not watching that small display earlier, Elesa shot up and pointed an accusing finger at him. "So that's where you were! I've been looking everywhere for you!" She sauntered herself to a pace which matched his own in order to get a good look at his face. "Your brother got what was coming to him, but it's unfortunate you ran away. Just man up and face what's coming to you, won't y-"

"**MOVE IT**!" Dent shoved his scarf to her, the fabric tangling into her marching heels and causing her skimpy body to fall over in a jumble of joints and clothing.

"Eek!" And, she only wished she listened to him earlier and worn a longer skirt.

TTTTTTTT

The outline of the moon above them was enough to indicate that she hadn't gone far. In the contrary, the little jungle-girl had made herself a home on a tree just behind the Striaton gym, her arms stretched before her as she laid her stressed body against the comforting bark. It was great being away from everyone else. Nature never judged or betrayed her, and was something she could always get back to, and relax in. Actually, she found herself forgetting about everything else around her for long moments at a time. So, as Dent made his way to her form silently, she almost fell off when he timidly called out.

"Hey, Airisu!" She looked down. So he did exist after all, but still, said nothing. She just stared at him.

He called to her again, and upon receiving no response once more, sighed and rested his back against the trunk. He hummed slightly. "So um…becoming so highly recognized by Drayden is quite a feat."

Finally, Iris sadly snickered back. "Yup, sure is."

"Hm…er, how did you get up there anyways?" Dent awkwardly changed the subject. He just wasn't good with confrontations. But, she didn't seem to mind. If anything, changing the topic was welcoming.

"I like climbing trees…it's really fun!"

"Oh, it is?"

"Well, probably not for most people, but I love it!"

"I see… a trait which gives you a unique spice to an otherwise natural yet strangely alluring dish." At this, Dent seemed to stare off into space in his own world, one hand rested on his chin in thought.

"Pf, you make it sound so extravagant!" Iris flicked her wrist in distaste.

"You're different."

She deflated. "Yeah…yeah, that's less of a painful way to put it."

"…which isn't a bad thing." Dent added in, uncharacteristically smoothly and with no sign of stuttering. He just had an instinct on what to say to her, there was no need to overthink everything like he normally did. It was…weird. "It's similar to those common and high-class dishes I was ordered to prepare for this occasion. They were of good taste, yes. But all admittedly boring, over-used and _extravagant_." He faced forward. And the more he thought about it, the more he realized that nothing he was telling her was a lie. "It's better to have a servable apple sundae once in a while, right?"

Iris poked his back with a stick, causing him to shriek and jump away. When did she get down? He thought some creepy man had come to abduct the both of them!

But then, she laughed. Dent found that all fear he had felt just then flowed out of him, and he laughed too. Not awkwardly like he usually did to kill an uncomfortable moment, or coming up with an excuse to get away from his various bishounen fangirls, but truly laughing. Laughing to the point to where they were both rolling on the ground, clutching their stomachs in pain and simply enjoying each other's company, no matter how many worms and other germs Dent was sure were inhabiting the dirt.

They eventually subsided into quiet snickers and snorts, both of them sitting on the cool ground in pure bliss. Dent was shocked to see that he was the first one to speak once more.

"Then…uhm, what are you going to do?"

"You're a pain, you know that?" Iris crossed her arms just playfully enough to keep him from freaking out and believing that he had messed everything up and she truly hated him now. "Is there even a point in asking?"

"Hm?" She always surprised him.

"I'm going to do this." Without warning, she crouched towards his confused face and gave him a peck on the cheek, then leaned back and laughed even more at his shocked look, her own pink blush adorning her face. "Then…I'm going to become the new Opelucid City gym leader!"

"Huh?"

"Don't worry, even though I'm the most powerful gym leader in the region now, I'm not gonna sue you!"

Wait, so she _saw_ that?

"Yes. I saw that, you pain." And she still didn't believe those rumors about him?

Iris read his mind once more. "No. I don't like rumors." She bounced up into that same chirpy girl that he saw back at the kitchen. And really, if he weren't still processing everything that was happening, he would've asked her for her phone number right then and there. "Well, time to go tell Draydie that I'm going to accept his offer after all! And I'm serious, thanks a lot…Dento. You really are a great Connoisseur!" She seemed to smile fondly at him for a moment, before running back to the hall with the fire in her step re-burned and unwilling to be put out any time soon.

Dent watched her retreating body, too frozen to the grassy ground to move a single muscle.

He was sure he was blushing 94 shades of _red_ now.

And yeah, he counted.

…

"Wait…_Draydie_?"

TTTTTTTT

**Just to tell you guys, this is pure Gameverse!DentxIris. So if anyone's complaining that they're out of character, that mostly explains what's going on. Iris is more childish and hyper, and Dent, believe it or not, is actually **_**shy and awkward**_**. Yeah, I know.**

**I call this chapter bullcarp…and way too freakishly long.**


	5. Cold

**This is a secret Santa gift for FlyingEevee on Serebii forums and takes place after the Accelgor episode. Happy holidays to everyone!**

TTTTTT

"_S-So cold!_" It was 8:34pm that time, about 2 days before Christmas.

Through all their travels together, it had never occurred to Dent why Iris hated the cold so much. He himself was fine with low temperatures and whenever the chance grew to go travelling into snowy regions, he would take out some of his Pokémon to play in the mushy whiteness. Yes, he was a grass-type gym leader but it was impolite to let that keep him from admiring the season. Besides, wasn't the story time of plants fighting through the harsh winters just to come back in spring stronger and more graceful immensely romantic?

Anyway, Ash wasn't much different and was surprisingly capable of holding himself back from jumping into the hills like a 5 year old and making snow angels when the time came. A great example was when they were at the cold storage. Dent knew it was inappropriate but every 2 minutes during the whole thing, he couldn't help but be amazed at how distracted Iris was in comparison to Ash who was completely focused on catching those Team Plasma-wannabies. At the time, he supposed it was hard to take them seriously and let it go…until Iris woke up the next morning with a high fever and a cold.

Immediately at hearing the news, Dent stayed near her side with a hot bowl of soup he made himself. She wasn't exactly conscious to drink it, but it calmed his nerves to know that he did have something ready for her when she did.

"Hey, Dento! I'm back with the ingredients you asked me to buy!" A certain ten year old came in from across the room and set most of the groceries on the ground. Pikachu jumped down from his shoulder but stopped midway to stare at something in his arms. "Is Iris getting any better?"

"No, unfortunately." He sighed. The day was tasteless when one of his friends was sick and the other one was out. The soup in his hands felt tasteless when he scooped up a mouthful and tried to encourage her to eat some. Everything was tasteless today. Dent was playing with a tassel on the blanket. This tasteless Pokémon center really had tasteless taste in décor. He supposed that there was a bright side in Ash not questioning why he was sulking in the corner with a bunch of mushrooms when he came in. "She hasn't even woken up since this morning."

Pikachu started sniffing the bottle, only for Ash to raise it away from his little buddy by placing it on the highest shelf he could reach. Which wasn't very high. "Maybe Clay-san has opened his gym up by now, Satoshi." Dent shrugged, "you could battle there while we're waiting for Airisu to get better."

"Nah," Ash pulled a chair from the table a few feet away and placed it under a shelf attached to the wall. It had no items near it which a certain electric rodent could climb. "It's more fun when both of you are watching me. Besides," he stepped up on the chair with a grunt, then stood tip-toe and tried to reach for the ledge; just a few centimeters off. "There's no point …" Ash jumped, "in having a gym match if I'm going to be distracted by Iris' condition the whole time."

Dent calmly took the bottle and put it on the shelf for him. "Well now, that deduction not only makes sense but is very touching. I'm thoroughly impressed."

"Huh?"

"Nothing at all, Satoshi." Dent sent a small smile but it quickly dissipated in confusion. "By the way, why are you hiding the bottle of ketchup on top of this Bunneary shelf?"

"You don't want to know."

TTTTTT

"_S-So cold!_" 4pm the next day just struck when Iris uttered her first words.

Dent had recently discovered that the room had 194 tiles all of which were disguised to look like wood but were actually 85% laminate, every afternoon at about 12:30 was when the Pokémon Center had its rush hour of Cincinno's while 2pm was more leaning towards Patrat territory, and Pansage had 540 leaves sprouting from its broccoli-like head wherein about 27 of them were beginning to wither since Dent watered them this morning. He was contemplating whether to count the veins too or just copy Ash and go to sleep. So when he heard coherent worlds coming from his sick friend, he bolted out from his seat and ran to her side in desperation.

"…"

"Yes? What's wrong, Airisu?"

A whisper. "_…cold…_"

Now, that wasn't hard to fix for the great sommelier such as himself! First, he'd get a hot water bottle ready at exactly 105 ͤF, then rid her of that hideous blanket for that one he saw at the market with not only higher density but dancing Axew's on it, and of course prepare the same exact soup he just made again in the kitchen but with an extra tablespoon of mashed burnt berries, then-

And he was already out the door.

"…_Dent?_"

"Sorry, we just ran out of hot water bottles…"

"Huh?" Dent bent back in shock as Nurse Joy gave him an apologetic smile and continued with her work. "You see, Cincinno's are boundlessly spoiled and demand the highest luxury or else they'll fall ill again. After that epidemic which whipped out many of the trees which grow burnt and oran berries in a 5 mile radius, the market has been shut down due to high demand and a lot of rich folk have been coming and keeping anyone from using the kitchen."

"_Huh?_" Dent repeated.

"If you're thinking of using a hot water bottle, going to the market, or cooking anything involving burnt berries or oran berries, that's great but you can't. Merry Christmas!" With that, Nurse Joy left the tortured teenager and followed an Audino into the emergency room to tend to another Cincinno. If he wasn't halfway across the region Dent could've sworn Corn was somehow responsible for all of this. What was he going to do now?

"Hey." Someone interrupted his sulking with a giggle. Dent turned just to see a girl about the same height as him with long blonde hair which reached her mid-back. She had blue eyes and seemed tall for her age. He could also talk about what she was wearing but nobody really cares.

"Um, hello." He answered slightly uncomfortably. He knew it was ethically wrong to judge people before you knew them but something about this girl just threw him off. It reminded him well of when he was just becoming a preteen and going through awkward changes.

"Hey," she repeated and giggled again. "I couldn't help but overhear your dilemma. I have my little Silver Blood Sakura Twilight Angel the fourth waiting upstairs with a few burnt berries so I wouldn't mind sparing you one." At that, almost all of Dent's unusual nervousness went away. Oh, he really shouldn't judge people without knowing them and he forever apologizes to Arceus for doing so without thinking! Whatever a Silver Blood Sakura Twilight Angel the fourth was, he shall pray good health to it with no hesitation!

"If…" she continued, "you give me a kiss under the mistletoe."

Then again, maybe Arceus should be praising him for his fabulous instincts.

"Huh?" Dent stepped back surprised but at seeing that she was completely serious, recovered himself and sent her a polite smile. "I'm sorry but is there some other way? A kiss is a very personal matter and I'm sure you have many more wonderful gentlemen who would present your beautiful self with such a thing."

"Nope!" She chirped innocently and did a twirl on her toes so her dress would puff up slightly. "I want one right on the lips and unless you give me a long one, no berry for you!"

Dent inwardly winced. He wasn't going to lie. He'd always managed to avoid kissing those girls back at the Striaton gym. Whenever this sort of situation aroused for him before, his brothers could easily be offered up just as if not better attractive choices. Pod would usually pretend to kiss them, before grabbing what he needed and running away with his arms up and yelling, "This is SPARTA!" Somehow his fan girls found it adorable and would pretend it never happened. Corn on the other hand would somehow brainwash the girl with a committed but underneath blank look on his face and sweet talk his way into a simple kiss on the hand. The frequencies of this happening especially increased during the winter holidays. Oh, the number of tainted hands out there right now.

This time he was rooted to the spot with no Sparta or Mr. Troll to get him out. Normally he wouldn't hesitate if it meant that Iris could get better, but he still didn't…actually, he had no idea why he didn't want to so badly. It almost felt like he was betraying someone, somewhere, for some reason. How unscientific and oh, he can already imagine Iris standing next to him with a triumphant smirk at his new found feeling. Really, he shouldn't waste time! Of course he'll do it! Just as Dent was about to open his mouth to accept the condition, Ash barged into the room yawning and with a large glass of MooMoo milk in his hands.

"Hey, Dent. What'cha doing?" He sure had strange timing.

At first Dent was disappointed yet relieved that the girl was probably going to run off somewhere and they couldn't finish the deal, until he noticed from the corner of his eyes that she had instantly lightened up at the sight of a ten year old in his pajamas holding a glass of milk. "Is that MooMoo milk?"

"Uh, yeah…"

She squealed. "I LOVE MooMoo milk! You see the market just closed a few hours ago so I couldn't buy any, how disappointing! My little Silver Blood Sakura Twilight Angel the fourth needs at least 12 pitchers a day or else she faints from dehydration."

"Did something happen at the market?" Ash was just getting wind of everything since waking up.

"Yeah. Apparently some rich guys broke into their security and tried to steal half of their supplies so they closed down to try to figure out what went wrong. Something about not trusting any of the foreigners." She seemed okay when she was talking to Ash. Dent obliviously envied Ash for _not_ having any girls attracted to him.

Then, Dent actually processed what was being said and an idea flashed in his head. "Satoshi, just how much milk did you buy yesterday?"

Ash scratched his cheek in somewhat deep thought. "About 8, I think…why?"

Immediately, Dent deflated. '_Not enough…_'

"But if you need more I'm sure Charles might get you in there. Everyone seems to trust him, plus he's really cool!" At the mention of Charles, the girl who still hadn't revealed her name squealed yet again. Was she going to bribe him into a kiss too? Dent closed his eyes to rid his mind from the horrendous thought and interrupted their conversation with a raised hand.

"Then how about this, miss. I'll retrieve 12 pitchers of MooMoo milk for you and as a reward, be given those burnt berries in which you have?"

The girl shot him a look but smirked. "Make that 18 and a kiss on the hand, handsome."

Dent nearly choked. He just wanted Iris to get warm again…so kept a calm smile, gently talking her fingers in-between his and pressing his lips to them. "Very well, my fair lady. And with that, the first part of the deal is done." Then, he ran out of the Pokémon center to find Charles.

"…you guys best friends or something?"

TTTTTT

"_D-Dent…c-cold-_" It was 6pm before he found him; the night of Christmas Eve.

Charles wasn't a hard guy to find, given his choice of clothing and enthusiastic need to stick out in comparison to all the grandpa's and small children. It was more the part where he had to catch up to Accelgor Glider that had taken out all the breath out of Dent. So, when they were both standing in front of the market, the taller of the two calling out to the owner, Dent was holding his back in pain. You'd think he'd have more stamina after running a gym for most his life and walking for over 14 hours a day.

The pain almost went away as a woman walked out to greet them. What surprised him was that she was someone he had never seen before, despite his many visits to buy cookies for Ash and Iris to munch on. She was young and had a lot of make-up on for her age; clearly trying to hide any nonexistent blemishes she probably created by eating pizza and salami every night. It failed to hide the gigantic pulsing mole she had on her forehead though. Her body was curvy and probably not appropriate for small children to see. Still, she regarded Charles with a sly look.

"Ah, Charles! I see you're back for more shopping today. We've had a bit of trouble earlier today so had to shut down, but it's fine for you!"

"I see! Thanks a lot, Berdina. This young man here needs to buy something important for a friend so I was hoping you'd be understanding." Charles stopped and combed his hair to the side. Not that anyone could tell the difference.

It was then she stopped and eyed Dent warily. As she and inevitably her bulging mole leaned closer to observe him, Dent flinched back. "Hey, what's with bringing one of those rich brats along? I know it's rude but it's been stated that there be no rich foreigners visiting for the rest of the day."

"My deepest apologies, but I'm not actually rich, miss." Dent bowed without noticing how Charles simply frowned at him. "I just wear these clothes due to personal preference and…convenience for dry cleaning." Dent winced beneath his bow. He just wanted some milk. Was that too much to ask?

"Sorry, kid." She shrugged before looking back at the other man with a purr. "So, you coming in or what?"

Charles sighed. "No no, it's fine…I'll be back in a bit, alright Berdina?"

"Don't take too long!" She squealed.

Dent winced once more. How many fan girls was he going to encounter today? He wasn't given any time to wallow in his misery because he soon found himself in a deserted street with Charles staring at him thoughtfully.

"…Hm, yes?"

"The suit," he pointed a finger in the air. "We definitely need to get rid of the suit!"

"Pardon?"

"No 'pardon', Dent-kun!" Charles shot back triumphantly. "When people tell you what to do, you say 'whatever', got it?"

"Pardon?" Dent had no idea what he was on about.

"…"

"W-Whatever?"

"Now you've got it, my boy!" The man slapped Dent on the back and erupted in laughter, causing the teen to fall onto the floor from the strength.

Ten minutes later found Dent dressed in a crinkled black leather jacket with 15 pockets zipped halfway, baggy ripped jeans which were clearly a size too big and dragged on the floor in the rain, cleated boots and wrist bands which resembled gear for war more so than going to buy milk, and dark shady sunglasses hiding the horrified look the wearer had on his face. Anyone walking by and happening to be under the female category would've swooned at the super hardcore-looking teen out on the street. Dent shivered at the thought. Maybe it was a good thing he went with the pretty boy look. But still, Charles frowned.

"The hair…"

Dent shot him a blank look. "The hair stays."

"Are you su-"

"_Yes_." His face hardened.

"Okay okay, the hair stays." Charles held his hands up in defense. "Gee…but at least you're more believable now."

Despite his disgust with everything, he couldn't help but be curious. "Believable for what occasion?"

Charles gently grabbed him by the shoulders wordlessly and walked them both back to the market. Despite his constant protests, Dent found himself face to face with busty mole woman Berdina much sooner than he would have preferred. She took one good look at him, fixated her eyes to Charles, then back at him with an expectant look.

Charles elbowed him, nearly knocking the wind out of the poor boy. Luckily the sunglasses concealed everything. With that thought in mind, Dent composed himself, leaned casually against the wall with a slouch, and swung Charles' motorcycle keys between his fingers effortlessly.

"Whatever."

He swore he heard someone scream and die not too far from him. He hoped that person was alright…

The brightest smile the town ever saw shone on Berdina's face just then, as she erupted in laughter and slapped her knee as if the whole thing amused her greatly. Was it just him or was other people's amusement starting to dishearten him lately?

"Well, I guess if this lassy over here looks up to you so much, Charles, we could let him in to buy a thing or two."

"Right, right. He's always following me around, you see. I remember when I first met him he was still in his superman costume and told me how cool and totally amazing I was, even joining that Accelgor club I started a while ago! Kids these days, huh?" Charles ruffled Dent's hair. Dent flinched and Berdina giggled.

"He even went as far as to adopt this look to be just like me! Those drabs he was in before were just his pajamas, right Dent?"

"Whatever." He wanted to strangle yet hug Charles so badly right now.

Berdina laughed and waved off with an 'I know, right' before ushering the two inside. Dent let out a huge breath of air he didn't know he was holding. Seriously, how did people act or wear this kind of stuff? He could already feel sweat forming around his eyebrows from the sunglasses, the wrist band was giving him a major indentation in his side unless he lifted his arm in the air which he couldn't since the band was as heavy as a Crustle, and he was pretty sure his jacket zippers poked him a good 17 times in the past five minutes. It wasn't like this was a new _time_ for him or anything so Dent was pretty sure it would end up badly if anyone he knew saw him like this.

Across the street, a frightened figure emerged itself from the shadows with a horrified look on his face.

"Uhh…I think I'll wait and surprise little bro' tomorrow! Yeah, that sounds like a plan." (_*_)

"I don't think I brought any money…" Dent concluded when he rattled through his wallet. Well, he had been spending a lot lately, what with all the limited edition subway merchandise Nobori and Kudari offered him in the last town coupled with the Christmas presents he bought for Ash and Iris. He knew MooMoo Milk was expensive, but it had been a while since he battled anyone and felt the prize money for winning in his hands. Most of his finance he had left at the Pokémon Center which he couldn't waste as that was to be used to buy ingredients for the next few weeks. In all the mix up, he had forgotten.

Berdina looked at his forsaken face with a frown. "Well, you know we can't just give you what you want if you don't have any cash."

"I know."

"Say, why don't you work for it, Dent?" Charles piped up suddenly. "Berdina, didn't you say that the store was short on Foongus powder? Maybe we can search for some and sell it to you." The woman looked shocked for a moment, but seemed to consider this idea as a good one. After all, everyone else around here was either too busy or didn't care to look for any. All of them claimed that it wasn't worth the effort to endanger their Pokémon by getting near those spores. Yet those same spores were vital ingredients to make medicine at the same time.

Finally, Berdina complied. "9,000G, that's how much you need. The amount you make depends on how much you get, boy." Boy…? Instead of saying anything, Dent nodded determined. A Foongus wasn't hard to find. He saw hundreds of them on his way to Driftveil city with Ash and Iris. As for catching one? That was practically his specialty.

"Whoa, 9000G is a lot!" Charles exclaimed surprised. "Are you sure about this, Dent-kun?" But when he turned, the green-haired Sommelier was already out the door.

TTTTTT

"_Are you still cold? 10:30pm and no sign of him._"

"…I don't have enough."

Berdina counted up the glittering change before her with a frown. It seemed the boy already knew just by looking at her reaction. "Sorry but no bargaining, kid. I'd say you have enough to buy maybe nine at most anyway. If you want twelve or so maybe I can bend the rules a tad for Christmas."

"No, I need eighteen." Dent replied with a sigh. He just wanted Iris to get better. Why was everything keeping it from happening? He played with the once shiny but now worn out zipper on his jacket. He had used it to store the small vials of powder each time he finished collecting one. As a result, the plentiful amounts of dirt he came in contact with soiled it. Charles told him it was alright just as long as he got the work done.

"Hey now, you must have a lot of drive to work so hard on Christmas Eve…" Berdina trailed with a frown.

"You know, we can just try again tomorrow!" Charles quipped.

"Whatever."

"…"

"Say," Berdina slammed her fist on the table causing Dent to shriek and jump out of his seat. "One of our executives yesterday left her Purrloin behind for us to look after. How about we make a deal? You take care of it for the next three days and I'll sell those 18 pitchers at half price!"

Oh, no.

"Oh, okay."

Which was how Dent found himself dragging eighteen heavy bottles of MooMoo milk on his back, a bag of evil cat food in one hand, and a collar holding that said evil little cat in the other as he walked home in a gangster outfit at 11pm in the evening. So far other than his aching behind and the manual labor, nothing else bad had happened on his way to the Pokémon Center. The Purrloin would once in a while stop to lick its paw or play with a leaf, but other than that pretended he didn't even exist. Was that girl with no name and wanted to make out with Charles even awake now?

But all of his worries and fatigue which had been building up dissipated as the lights of the Pokémon Center came into view. Finally, his efforts for the day would be worth it once he receives those Burnt berries and watches Iris quickly get better before him! In his excitement, Dent made a last run towards the building, ignoring how Purrloin quietly hissed at him in his attempt to keep up with the tortured Sommelier. He would have a mad evil cat to tend to for the next 3 nights, but that was a minimal price to pay. So what if he had to wear this embarrassing outfit so he could take care of a Purrloin for three days so the price of the MooMoo milk would go down so he wouldn't waste his efforts of collecting spores all day so he could make extra money so he could trade them with a girl for burnt berries so he could cook a special soup so Iris could get better? That was all in the past now.

Dent rounded the corner and almost made it home free when the automatic doors slid open, but stopped when the sound of crying reached his ears. He turned curiously, only for the sight of a ragged little boy sleeping against a tree nearby to hit him. His legs moved on their own, and before he knew what was going on he was next to the figure in a heartbeat and asking him what was wrong.

The boy kept crying and only shrieked louder at the sight of a gangster teen walking a Purrloin in the late hours of the night. It quickly subsided when Dent quietly petted his head in a soothing manner. "Now, do you mind telling me what's wrong?"

"I-I, my aunt gave me money to buy something really important," he sniffled. "It's something my mommy adores and wanted to have one last time before she goes away."

Dent looked slightly confused. "Goes away?"

"Yeah. She said forever."

"O-Oh…! Excuse me, I'm sorry for making you tell me all of this."

"No, i-it's okay." The much smaller boy smiled weakly at him but then broke into sobs again. "B-B-But we're not very rich. I was supposed to buy a pitcher of MooMoo milk for her with my aunt's money or I can't go back home."

"And why's that?"

"She told me…and this gang of bikers stole it from me." He cried louder. "It's all my fault!"

"Oh…" Dent was perplexed. What kind of family told such a young boy that he couldn't come home if something bad happened? It was Christmas Eve! Bad things happened all the time and no one could help it. Take it from him, Dent knew all about that after today. But telling a boy not to come home, they really must have a hard life. The choice was nearly second nature to him. Without hesitation, he unstrapped the box from his back and carefully lifted the lid, handing the small boy a bottle. "Here, you can have it."

He looked back at him shocked. "R-Really?"

"Yes, please take it. I have a lot more, see?" To emphasize the comment Dent pointed to the crate with a cheerful smile, though it was hard to see behind the glasses.

"A-Are you…wow…" In an instant, the boy's eyes brightened ten shades before gently taking the milk with a look on his face, as if reaching an epiphany. "No one's ever been that nice to me before."

Dent chuckled. "Not at all. Please tell your mother Merry Christmas for me. Just, don't think you're at fault because a few bad things happen, okay?"

"O-Okay! Thank you, mister!" He laughed sincerely and ran off down the streets, a slight hop and skip in his step as he disappeared into the shadows. Dent smiled at the sight, and it never left his face even after no one was around him anymore. He was sure Iris would've wanted this anyway and…wait, no one around him anymore?

"E-Evil ca-I mean, Purrloin! Where are you, Purrloin?" Panicked, Dent stood up from his spot and looked around frantically. He knew they were evil and this is proof! The little Pokémon was trying to get him into trouble by suddenly disappearing! Alright, he just had to calm down and remember what Berdina told him. Apparently that Purrloin didn't like the wilderness or cold that much, so he couldn't have ran off into the night. And, there was only one place around here that always had open doors and provided warmth and comfort at this time.

Dent ran off in the direction of the Pokémon Center, did a one-eighty to retrieve the crate, and then ran back as fast as he could. Of course he had to drop off the heavy box back at their dorm or it would just slow him down. Ignoring the swoons and attempts of some teenage girls by the lobby to get his attention, was it just him or did he get even more fan girls with this look? He took out his key and hastily unlocked the door, only to find that it was already unlocked. Ash must have left it open to get some midnight snack of some sort. It wasn't unusual for him to anyway.

The crate was gently placed on the dining table, and Dent dared to spare one glance at the sleeping yet shivering figure still lying in bed across the room. Ash was fast asleep in the other bed with Pikachu hugging a bottle of ketchup with a bow wrapped around it in his arms. Dent hadn't been there for half the day and only just returned. Despite Ash's appearance he had a lot of practice tending to his Pokémon when they were sick, so Dent wasn't worried about Iris not being looked after or anything. But still…he felt guilty.

His guilt trip was interrupted by a quiet 'meow' emerging from atop the bed. Dent gasped when he saw the materialization of all evil pouncing on Iris' hair like it was a toy, jumping from her left to right side playfully before crawling its way around her pillow. Her blanket fell to the ground as a result. Dent could only twitch when he saw Iris shiver harder. "Oh no no, don't do that Purrloin!" Evil!

He picked up the kitten and hooked it under his arm so it couldn't do more damage as he gathered the blanket back up. Oh, the stories he could tell about the night he had a Purrloin in his arms would be horrifying. Dent peered down at Iris worriedly and gingerly tucked it back over her cold form. "Sleep tight, Airisu…"

"…_Dent?_"

"Yes?" Was she talking in her sleep?

"It's cold."

Dent frowned. "I know," then a sigh. "I'm sorry."

"…"

"Airisu?" Dent briefly wondered if she heard him or went back to sleep, and leaned closer to make sure she was alright. Just as he was sure her breathing was even again, a pair of arms wrapped themselves around him and forced his body down onto the bed in a half-sitting position. Dent squeaked and the Purrloin in his arms hissed once more in surprise. Then, a silence which felt like a race of confusion and loud noises in his brain.

He finally had the sense to look down, and saw that her arms were secured tightly around him with her face buried in his back. Her head still lay on the pillow yet his own was forced up against the wall while his legs were dangling off the edge of the bed. Red adorned his pale face and he never felt so glad to be wearing such ugly dark glasses in such a dark room at such an hour. "A-Airisu?" Was she feeling alright?

"_W-W…_"

"Hm?"

"_So…warm…_" Which only succeeded in making the green haired sommelier blush harder.

He waited a few more moments but she said nothing more, noticing that Purrloin was beginning to nod away into a deep sleep itself. W-Wasn't this kind of thing really inappropriate until you became of age? Or unless you're married? It was alright back at the cold storage when she simply buried her head into him; she was scared! But now was just completely improper. What if he woke up and got arrested for harassing a young innocent maiden? Then he would have to spend the rest of his life in a completely unsanitary juvy cell! No, what if he woke up and Iris saw him not only in this ridiculous getup but with the devil cat in his arms? He would've broken two of the most important rules in his book in one swoop by sleeping with not only her but the cat as well!

But, she said she was warm.

It was only then that he noticed she was no longer shivering, only taking long contented breaths into the realm of sleep. What about the burnt berries? And the water bottle? And the blanket? Did he do all of that for nothing when all she wanted was…he gulped, _this_ the whole time? He suddenly felt the urge to lean in closer and play with her hair, that same silky hair which was now mixed into his. That urge turned into burying his face in her neck when her arms tightened around him and he could feel her breath down his back. Soon the feeling rocketed so high that he had to face the wall and begin recounting the tiles to keep from doing it.

What was it…199 tiles? No, 72? 2974 sounded about right.

Somehow it felt like the world was being cruel to him. It was like he was being punished for something, or was it? Was it some kind of reward instead? Dent did a metaphorical face palm. No! He would never take advantage of a lady like that, especially Iris! For a moment, he contemplated wiggling out from the grasp and giving her a stuffed Pidove to shower with love instead. F-Friendship love, of course! Dent began his work in silently crawling away. But that thought was instantly destroyed when he froze at the sound of his name being whispered again.

That did it. Despite the feeling of being cheated, he found that he didn't care anymore. All the work was realistically for nothing but somehow he felt he accomplished a lot. So instead of feeling bad or making a desperate run for it, he sighed and made himself comfortable on the bed beside her. "Oh well…I'll do this if it makes you happy, Airisu." And ignored the deepening blush and growing smile on his own features.

He drifted to sleep, but not before setting the alarm early so he could sneak away the next morning. He didn't want her to get embarrassed when she woke up and realized what she did after all.

It wasn't until he lost consciousness when the girl beside him shifted slightly with a giggle.

"Thank you, Dent…"

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(_*_) _Pod appeared in the episode following the one this story is based on._

**You see what happens when I try to write a cruel humor story? It ends up being emotional anyway. Sorry about that but I hope everyone enjoyed it. It wasn't very Christmas-like either but it wasn't really meant to be. Christmas was more of a side-theme here, other than the spirit of giving. This one-shot was obviously inspired by Iris hiding behind Dent whenever an ice-type Pokémon shows up. She seems to do that a lot. Of course it's adorable. **

**See you guys next chapter! And giving is better than receiving!**


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